Are we fully into the summer vibes yet, or are we ready to get out of the heat? Let’s travel back in time to the year I graduated high school, 1987, when everything from the movies to the music was just a little bit cooler.

Here are five songs that really defined my summer that year:

“People Are Strange” by Echo & the Bunnymen

If there was one movie I really remember in ’87, it was The Lost Boys. Hair band vampires, that shirtless sax player (who low key was epic), and of course the Frog Brothers. I loved this film, and now both my kids do. I had the soundtrack…on cassette! This was one of the songs I would have played on repeat if I could have then.

“La Bamba” by Los Lobos

I grew up with the music of the 50s blaring in my dad’s garage all the time, and I loved it. When La Bamba came out during my transition from high schooler to college kid, I was mega into this remake of the Ritchie Valens classic take on the old Mexican standard.

“Mony Mony” by Billy Idol

I bet you’re thinking “are all 1987 hits remakes of classic songs used in soundtracks?” Nope. Here’s Billy Idol’s remake of a classic song from Tommy James and the Shondells song that I don’t remember from any soundtrack. But we cranked it out in the dance clubs.

“Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake

Okay, let’s leave the remakes with some rockin’ summer hair band, prompting every would-be vixen to zip around the hoods of their boyfriends’ cars. This Whitesnake hit was first released in 1982, but their 1987 re-release was the one that hit the charts.

“Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House

Now it’s time to say goodbye to our high school friends with the “senior song”. With the Class of ’87 it was the overplayed but still cool, Crowded House. Hey, at least we didn’t have to endure Greenday’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” at every graduation.

Hang tight, Gen-Xers. No matter what this summer brings, our music is still kicking butt.